The Emerging Painting Invitational (EPI) is the African continent’s largest invite-only art event dedicated to painters and painting. The winners of the 2022 edition of the competition, the third since the prize’s inauguration, were revealed at an evening event hosted by art auction house Strauss & Co on 16 February.
“Supporting the EPI prize is an important part of our ongoing commitment to young artists on the continent,” said Susie Goodman, Executive Director of Strauss & Co. “We were particularly encouraged this year to see outstanding work by artists from eight different African countries – Algeria, Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, and Tunisia – with really strong woman artists making their voices heard.”
A Grand Prize of $3,000, sponsored by Strauss & Co, was awarded to Ravelle Pillay (South Africa). The winning artist’s oil on canvas works titled ‘The Birthday Party I & II’ and ‘Cake’ are available to purchase on Strauss & Co’s EPI February Online-only auction.
A Second Prize of $2000, sponsored by Emerging Painting Invitational, was awarded to Natnael Ashebir (Ethiopia) for his acrylic on canvas works titled Layers of Life I, II, III.
A Third Prize of $1000, sponsored by the African Art Galleries Association, was presented in absentia to Malebona Maphutse (South Africa). This award includes a residency at ‘This is not a White Cube Gallery’ (Lisbon and Luanda).
An Encouragement Award of $500, sponsored by First Floor Gallery, Harare, was awarded to painter Abubakar Moaz (Sudan) for materials, while Honorable Mentions went to Solomon Kifle (Ethiopia), Boeme Diale (South Africa) and Christian King Dusabe (Rwanda) whose work will be exhibited by Graham Contemporary in a group show in Johannesburg.
In addition to the juried awards of cash prizes to the total value of $6500, all finalists receive media visibility, art world introductions, representation by galleries, and inclusion in shows and publications.
The all-artist line up of jurors included Jonathan Freemantle, Lavar Munroe and Nicky Marais. Winners were selected based on mastery, originality and promise, with an appreciation of diversity in technique and subject matter, intensity of artistic voice and understanding of the language of painting.
Three works by each of the artists prizewinners and finalists are being offered for sale on Strauss & Co’s EPI February online-only auction, which is currently open for bidding. The sale closes on Monday 21 February 2022 at 6.00pm.
Artist’s bios:
Ravelle Pillay is a Johannesburg-based artist working primarily with painting and drawing. She holds a degree in Fine Art from the University of the Witwatersrand. Pillay’s work is informed by ideas of family, migration and nostalgia, as well as personal and collective memory. Her practice has evolved from a process of archiving. She often draws from personal, family, found, and borrowed photographs. Her work featured in the group exhibition Silence Calling from One Continent to Another at the Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, was shown at the 2021 FNB Art Joburg week and will be on the 2022 Investec Cape Town Art Fair.
Natnael Ashebir received a BFA in painting from the Alle School of Fine Art and Design in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He works across a variety of media, including painting, drawing, digital art, and photography. The core of his exploration is the layers created by politicians, social structures, and the process of urbanisation. Ashebir’s work has been exhibited in Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria. He currently lives and works in Ethiopia.
Malebona Maphutse is a Johannesburg-based visual artist with a BA (Fine Arts) from the University of Witwatersrand. She works in heterogeneous media, particularly painting, sculptural installation, linocut printing, digital prints and video art. The artist challenges historical narratives in her practice and investigates how bodies transcend mere existence, not only encountering space but also understanding the politics of space. Maphutse’s work has been exhibited at major international exhibitions including the Bergen Triennial 2019 (The Dead are not Dead) and the Stellenbosch Triennial 2020.
Emerging Painting Invitational (EPI) prize winners for 2022 announced
Jemile Taha
Name: Jemile Taha
Education: Diploma in Computer Science
Company name: Sheraton Style
Title: Owner
Founded in: 1997
What it does: Traditional Clothes
HQ: Addis Ababa, Shero meda
Number of employees: Family members
Startup Capital: 500,000 birr
Current capital: Confidential
Reasons for starting the business: To fill the gap
Biggest perk of ownership: Being committed to work
Biggest strength: Always work to increase my income
Biggest challenging: The fast changing environment of the industry
Plan: To make it a big industry
First career: None
Most interested in meeting: Prime minister Abiy Aimed
Most admired person: Tedros Kassahun /Tedy Afro/
Stress reducer: Staying at quite places
Favourite past time: Playing football
Favourite book: Quran
Favourite destination: Hawassa
Favourite automobile: Toyota Land Cruiser V8
Ethiopian Women U-20: 180 minutes from World Cup Qualification
A double strike from Redet Asersahne, Ethiopian Women national team reached the Costa-Rica World Cup qualification campaign last four defeating its Tanzanian counterpart in aggregate 2-1 score line. Head Coach Hailegebriel Ferew is yet to face his toughest challenge Ghana in the final qualification campaign.
A second round 8-0 thrashing over Rwanda followed by an 8-2 demolition over Botswana and the 2-1 humbling over Tanzania, it was an incredible campaign for the Ethiopian team that conceded only three while bagging 18 goals. Seven goals into her name so far in the qualification goal machine Redet set a new World Women U-20 qualification record bettering her compatriot Loza Aberra’s six goals.
Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria are now just one match away from reaching the FIFA U-20 World Cup Costa Rica 2022 after triumphing in the penultimate stage of African qualifying.
The quartet emerged victorious from the fourth round of the 2022 African U-20 Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament, prevailing in the second legs of their ties against Tanzania, Uganda, Morocco and Cameroon respectively.
The fifth and final round will take place next month, with two FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup spots on offer. Those will be decided by knockout ties played over two legs, the first of which will take place between 10 and 12 March, with the second following a fortnight later.
Nigeria are aiming to maintain their perfect record of having qualified for every FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup to date, while Ghana are also regulars, having reached each of the last five. Ethiopia and Senegal, on the other hand, are targeting a first-ever appearance at this global showpiece.
World Half Marathon Records Ratified for Letesenbet & Kiplimo
The world half marathon records set by Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey and Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo last year have been ratified.
Gidey ran 1:02:52 at the Valencia Half Marathon Trinidad Alfonso EDP when making her debut at the distance on 24 October, while Kiplimo clocked 57:31 at the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon on 21 November.
Gidey, competing in the same Spanish city where she had broken the world 5000m record in 2020, took 70 seconds off the previous world half marathon record of 1:04:02 set by Kenya’s world marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich in Istanbul on 4 April 2021.
As a result, 23-year-old Gidey became the first woman to officially break the 64- and 63-minute barriers for the half marathon. She was also the first debutante to set a world record for the distance.
“I knew I could run this kind of time as my training sessions in the altitude of Addis Ababa have gone very well,” said Gidey, the Olympic bronze medallist and world silver medallist over 10,000m. “In future I’m thinking of competing at the marathon distance but I’m not sure that will come before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games or later.”
Less than a month later, world half marathon champion Kiplimo won his race by more than two minutes to shave one second from the previous world record set by Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie in Valencia on 6 December 2020.
Having reached the 10km point in 27:05, Kiplimo was well on schedule to break the record and his 15km split time of 40:27 was the fastest ever recorded for the distance.
